Recoiling Pickaxe
The ' Reciprocating Handheld Excavator', often known by its acronym RHE or its nickname Recoiling Pickaxe, was an experimental mining tool developed on Powai Nui. One was later used by Toa Wreshi as his Toa tool. The Recoiling Bludgeon was a modified Recoiling Pickaxe, used by Wreshi after receiving the Vagrant Armor in the peaceful wake of the Leskya-Powai War. History Recoiling Pickaxes were developed by Po-Matoran and Onu-Matoran engineers on Powai Nui around a century before the Great Regression. They were funded by the PNGC, who wanted a device that would make underground infrastructure easier to build. Designed to make mining more efficient, their development was abandoned once tests revealed that using them seriously destabilized the integrity of tunnels, with one experiment ending in a cave-in that trapped several Matoran for days until Rangers and other personnel were able to recover them. This major oversight, which the PNGC claimed "should have been obvious to even those of the lowest intelligence," cost some of the engineers their careers and resulted in the Coalition terminating all development on the project or similar ones. This decision led to controversy as some saw it as being guided more by the Coalition's anger with the results than its concern for safety. Several voting sessions were held to try and resuscitate the project, all of which ended in favor of keeping it shut down, often by a mere one or two voters. Recoiling Pickaxes became popular among historic artifact collectors. One such collector, Detras, famously gave one to Wreshi to use as a Toa tool after they and four other Matoran were transformed into the Toa Powai. This caused the device to become associated with the Toa of Stone and thus skyrocket in popularity. Non-functioning replicas were produced to capitalize off of those who admired him and were sold up until the Great Regression. After the Leskya Nuians arrived on Powai Nui and integrated into its society, Wreshi was fitted with High Chief Qedua's old Vagrant Armor. Along with this, his Recoiling Pickaxe was modified, becoming a weapon called the Recoiling Bludgeon. Description The Recoiling Pickaxe, as its name suggests, took the form of a long-handled pickaxe. Most were silver, although a couple of prototype designs were painted black for unknown reasons. Each had a switch in the middle of the handle which, when flipped, would activate a hydraulic piston system, rapidly reciprocating the head back and forth like a jackhammer. Recoiling Bludgeon The Recoiling Bludgeon was a variant of the pickaxe, modified for use in combat and wielded by Wreshi after the end of the Leskya-Powai War. It retained the reciprocation function, but its head was able to fold in to form a triangular club shape for more hard-hitting attacks. Example Usage In Against the Storm/Volume II, Wreshi activated his Recoiling Pickaxe but was unable to control it, causing it to bore a hole into the stone wall of Detras' shop. Appearances * The Feral Plains/Volume II - First appearance * The Feral Plains/Volume III * The Feral Plains/Volume IV * The Feral Plains/Volume V * The Feral Plains/Volume VI * The Feral Plains/Volume VII * Against the Storm/Volume II * Against the Storm/Volume III * Against the Storm/Volume VI Gallery Recoiling Pickaxe Ats3-1.jpg Ats6-4.jpg Ats6-11.jpg Tfp4-8.jpg Tfp4-9.jpg Tfp4-10.jpg Tfp5-9.jpg Tfp6-2.jpg Tfp7-15.jpg Wreshi.JPG Wreshiintro.JPG Recpick1.jpg Recoiling Bludgeon Wreshi PostTFP1.jpg Wreshi PostTFP2.jpg Wreshi PostTFP3.jpg Recbludgeon1.JPG Recbludgeon2.JPG Category:Toa Tools Category:Weapons Category:Tools Category:Elemental Weapons Category:Melee Weapons